Evora Launch Edition mid life refresh

[mg4lotus]

Hi PJB

In 2020 I started getting a warning light mostly after I had washed the car. There was no noticeable change in engine performance. I have a cheap £10 OBDII code reader which gave me the code P0160. O2 sensor bank 2 sensor 2. When the car was fully dried out I could delete the code and it wouldn't return until the car was washed again.

There are 2 sensors post cat and I was advised that they don't last for ever  so I bought 2 from ebay for £90 and planned to change them.

On checking them out, I discovered that one of the sensors had a lead that had become damaged from it's proximity to the exhaust. I slightly re-routed the lead. This was most likely the problem and something that was manageable (only occurring when the car was washed with no effect on performance) so I waited until it's next service at the dealer and got them to replace both the O2 sensors for me. There has been no problem since.

Edited December 4, 2023 by mg4lotus

[DH2]

19 hours ago, C8RKH said:

No more so than anywhere else in the UK to be honest.

The worst one we had was a scottish Elise S1, when the chap started doing a suspension refresh himself, the chassis came away with the wishbone!  He brought it all the way down for us to do a chassis repair and save the car from being a write-off - that car was really bad, even the undertrays had corroded out around all the bolt holes.

22 hours ago, PJB said:

With respect to the CEL, I believe it's the O2 sensor.  Contrary to what you've said Bibs, I've heard it's fairly common for an Evora with manifold upgrades, not saying you're wrong, we've just heard different things. 

It annoyed me a little at first, but I'm not bothered about it now and not sure I can be bothered to go down the rabbit hole to sort it out when fundamentally there's nothing wrong.

It really depends what the fault/code is.  If it is a primary sensor, then that is fundamentally something wrong.

Dave

[EGTE]

Yikes. That IS extreme!

[PJB]

Thanks for all the responses and top tips regarding the sensors.  I expect Hendy know what it is as they've cleared it a few times, anyway, they weren't worried, so I'm not worried, just something to sort at some point. 

Thanks to those who've PM'd me regarding parts etc, really appreciate it.  Thankfully most of the parts for our cars are straightforward, but if anyone wants to know where I imported any of the parts from, or got them made (air con pipes that Lotus couldn't supply) just let me know.

Thanks

[PJB]

Me again, so now time for some pictures whilst the work was being done.

I will start with the suspension, which now feels a little tighter and stiffer as I think I mentioned before but which I expect will free up a little.  Everything else is running perfectly with the engine temps staying well controlled even when we had some hot weather and when stuck in traffic.

You will see from the pictures lots of new shiny stainless steel bits including proper jubilee clips, so I suspect the car in some ways is better screwed together that when it left the factory.

Enjoy the pictures, mainly of the suspension and front end.  Will add some rear end pictures later.

[PJB]

Looking at my photos I don't seem to have taken too many of the back of the car.  I think partly because the engine and gearbox are all good so other than the engine mounts there was less to do back there in some ways, or at least it didn't seem to look as transformational as some of the shiny new bits at the front!

The bars that go across the engine as a brace (what are they called) were taken off and sprayed and lots of bolts, clips, piping, hoses and rubber etc replaced together with some of the shielding.

There was nothing done to the exhaust but it came up when discussing the engine management light, in terms of do I have the 3rd cat delete system.  The previous owner was in Scotland and had all the work done by Craig Moncreiff with the exhaust from Jim at 2bular and a Komotec map.  I was a little worried how the exhaust would look having seen some of the rust, but it looks OK to me.

Anyone able to tell me what system layout/type it is?

[PJB]

As you can imagine paying someone else to do this lot was not cheap, but there are many aspects of the car which are better finished now then when it left the factory and I have been working on trying to make the car futureproof in terms of reliability and being able to cope with a long range tour in a hot country. 

The one thing the car hasn’t had is a clutch and after some consideration I decided that the car shows no sign of clutch problems and the gearshift is good, so on this point, I followed the “it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it” mindset. 

Separately at a local car audio place I had the tweeters and main speakers upgraded, I think I may want to upgrade the Alpine unit, already an upgrade from the original one.

The car had gone in December and I finally had it back in May.  I was not in a rush and for me it had always been about taking our time to make sensible decisions with much of the work being collaborative; me supplying parts I felt were superior, or on numerous occasions, brining them in from the USA.  What is it with better and cheaper parts being available from the USA for our cars that are made in Norfolk; madness!

I know main dealers sometimes get a tough time but I found that Hendy were great to deal with; genuinely nice people who are true car enthusiasts with a problem-solving mindset, and were fair with their pricing too.

On that positive note I will leave you until my next instalment which is mainly moving into non mechanical things.

[EuropaSman]

Regarding the 2bular exhaust system, if it's the full "power kit" version there's no 3rd cat/3rd cat delete.  The tubular manifolds do away with the "log" cats bolted to the standard exhaust manifolds. A sports cat is where the 3rd cat would be on a Launch Edition or NA pre 2012. @PJB the back box on your car doesn't look like either the non-valved or valved silencer for the NA on the 2bular website, so could have possibly been a custom build by Jim.

My Launch Edition retains the log cats, but has a 2bular decat pipe (before and after decat photos to compare). You can see the log cat on the aft bank to the right of the decat pipe on my car in the right-hand photo.

[PJB]

 

With the exhaust question hanging, I reached out to the owner prior to the one I bought it from, he did the work and I have been in touch him with since I bought the car.  The owner I bought it from only had it a year and was a Jag man, he has a mate who's pretty active on some of the Lotus forums and tends to buy cars, do a thread like this, (but where he does the work!) and then flogs them on.  I think maybe he planned on doing the same but figured there was more to do than he thought at outset, albeit he didn't tell me that!

Anyway, it was an interesting answer (over WhatsApp hence short sentences!)

"it's one of the prototypes for the first Evora systems.  Sport cats. Slightly larger bore than the normal system,  Combined with a BOE Intake.  And Komotek ECU Tune.  So should be making 310-315bhp."

He also confirmed the manifolds were done.

He's been super helpful and it's great that they clearly have a lasting impact on those of us lucky enough to care for them for a period of time.

[PJB]

I have also had some more info on the O2 sensors and CEL light, will update when I get around to doing more research on that.

Whilst doing the re-fresh and before the final bill, I had got a little excitable and bought a couple of bits of carbon fibre; an Lotus Sport OEM Engine Cover and one of the factory seconds Carbon Fibre Rear Hatch.

I had these both fitted and the car came back to me with them on, having had the hoses in the engine bay routed to give a really clear view of the carbon engine cover and out the back, well not that clear actually......

....the view out the rear-view mirror from the driver’s seat is now very reminiscent of my 1985 Esprit Turbo, and I like that! 

The edges of the rear-view mirror were tarnishing and so I ordered a new one, to fully enjoy the view.  It took nearly a year to come from Lotus and then they sent the dealer 4 of them instead of 1; isn’t that just so Lotus?!  On the plus side it was only £17, happy days!

Having got the car back, I have managed to use it for some runs with the local Lotus WhatsApp group.  I was complemented on how good the exhaust note sounds and how I managed to hang onto the supercharged crew! 

I do think the n/a is a lovely version of the Evora, more basic, less to go wrong, less engine heat issues, more supple with smaller wheels, lighter and lower centre of gravity.  The 300 odd bhp my Evora puts out, especially in the south of England where I live feels like enough to have fun, although, I’m obviously biased!

I have realised I haven't taken many pictures of it recently, mainly because it needs a good clean and there are some aesthetics next on the list, more of which next time. 

In the meantime, here's one with the carbon hatch, which by the way, is featherlight, compared to the glass one!

[jerzybondov]

Thanks for the update - car looks great!